Lovely library with a cool exhibit space!
5
5
Date of visit: August 2026
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Excellent
This is a very large library with lots of different spaces. There is a café by the main entrance, a children’s section, some computer areas, lots of spaces to sit, desks to work at and even some more secluded booths. There are also meeting rooms that can be hired and there is also an exhibition space. When I visited, the exhibition was all about disability sports, which was really interesting! They had lots of alternative formats for this exhibit, including large print, easy-read, audio and braille. There were also written descriptions of some of the items on display to explain the design or how they felt. There was an accessible toilet on each floor and there were ramps or lifts providing step-free access to all parts of the building. The space also had lots of very large windows, meaning that during daylight hours, the space is lit with lots of natural light, rather than too much artificial light. Most spaces are fairly quiet but there are some spaces that provide the opportunity to chat and make a bit more noise, such as the café and the areas towards the children’s area.
Disabled Access In and Around
Excellent
The entrance to the library is on the corner of the building and there are some stairs at the front but there is also a ramped route to the left of the entrance. There are some revolving doors at the front of the building and there is also an automatic door on the left which has a large button inside and outside to open the door. The flooring throughout the library was a smooth linoleum style flooring. The main reception area was large with lots of space. There was a reception counter with two members of staff and the counter was lowered. The café was on the right as you entered and there were some tables and chairs available. The library was split across different floors and there were either ramps or lifts to travel between them. The lift bank had two lifts available to use. The lifts were a little bit on the narrow side but were slightly longer which would have allowed people to get in behind a wheelchair or pram rather than alongside. There were stairs to travel between floors and they all had grab rails on the side and at least one of the staircases had colour contrast edges on each of the steps. There were lots of different spaces to sit around the library. Some individual spots and some group spaces with tables.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance, Seating at regular intervals, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The library doesn’t have its own dedicated car park, however, it is right next door to the Broad Marsh bus station and car park. There are lifts that travel from the ground floor where the bus station is located, to the car parking levels above. According to online information, there are 1,304 parking spaces in total which are across six floors. Included in that are 38 accessible parking spaces on levels two and three, 81 EV charging bays and 90 motorcycle spaces. The bus station also offers a number of different bus routes. The library is also just 300 metres away from the railway station.
Accessible facilities: Public or on street parking
Accessible Toilets
Good
There seemed to be an accessible toilet on every floor of the library which was great. They had doors that opened outwards and had standard door handles to open them rather than needing a RADAR key to get into it. They had grab rails around the toilet, including one that could be raised and lowered. The sink had a manual tap that twisted to control both the flow and temperature of the water. There was an automatic hand dryer alongside the sink. I visited two accessible toilets and one was right-side transfer and one was left-side transfer which was great, although I didn’t see any signage on the outside of the doors to identify this, which would have been extra handy! The red emergency cords were hanging freely to the floor as well.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
I didn’t personally interact with staff on this occasion but there was always at least one person at the main reception desk and there was another manned desk on the floor with the main fiction selection and some meeting rooms.
